China and India remain most attractive as Asia wealth industry softens.

Online, October 22, 2009 (Newswire.com) - PELL Futures conducted its Wealth Management survey prior to its Wealth Management Conference in Asia, held in Hong Kong. This year's survey involved 217 respondents from 68 key wealth management organizations in seven countries across non-Japan Asia, including asset managers, insurance companies, local and global retail banks and private banks.

In last year's survey, around 90% of wealth managers expected revenue growth in Asia of over 5% p.a. in the coming two years compared with only 41% of respondents in this year's survey.
China and India continue to be viewed as the most attractive markets in Asia, both in terms of potential for business expansion and expected revenue growth rate. A majority of wealth managers view China as the most attractive market with a quarter still forecasting revenue growth there of over 15% p.a. over the next 24 months, compared with a fifth of respondents in the case of India followed by 12% of wealth managers for third-placed Southeast Asia.
Korea was viewed as the least attractive market in Asia, with 29% of wealth managers forecasting minimum revenue growth.
The key challenge facing wealth managers is now viewed as being how to adapt to the changing regulatory environment, while being able to differentiate from competitors.
It is evident that wealth managers share the view that the financial markets will operate under significantly different regulatory conditions in future. Despite this and other challenges facing the industry, it is encouraging to see that around 40% of the region's leading wealth managers anticipate very respectable growth in their non-Japan Asia revenues over the next two years.
Product innovation remains a key challenge for the industry, exacerbated by an overriding trend for clients to seek simpler and more transparent products.
Commenting on the survey, Kevin Chao Tan said: "PELL Futures Wealth Management Survey has gained real momentum with significantly more respondents every year, despite the market turmoil. I believe that this is testament to the credentials of the survey itself, as well as our commitment to servicing the wealth management industry in the region."